God of Void - A Hollow Knight story
by RyantheFilmmaker
Summary: This is my take on the Absolute Radiance fight at the end of the nearly impossible Pantheon of Hallownest. Spoilers in case you haven't gotten to that yet!


**God of Void**

The Pure Vessel leaned back, short tendrils of Void protruding from their chest. Not a second later, they shot out to triple their length, writhing, trying to grab the attacker. The small Knight leapt over them and brought their nail down hard onto the Pure Vessel's head.

The Pure Vessel staggered backwards and fell onto their knees. The tendrils slithered back into them. They couldn't kill their sibling. They had lost. They knew what would come next. They looked up at the ceiling in anticipation.

The Knight stopped their attack, and looked up as well. A column of pure, golden light erupted from the center of the ceiling. They walked into it, knowing what they had to do. The light enveloped the rest of the room, both the Knight and the Pure Vessel unable to close their eyes to protect from the blinding brightness.

When the light finally faded, the Knight found themselves on a single platform in the Dream Realm. Like when they fought their sibling, they noticed that only one Godseeker was present here.

Beyond the Godseeker was a distant sun. The Knight stared at it. The sphere formed wings, and the platform began to violently shake.

With an ear-bleeding scream, one with which the Knight was all too familiar, the sphere teleported above them, now in the shape of a massive, brilliant white moth. The Radiance. The one the Knight was created to stop.

The Knight immediately Abyss Shrieked at her. She summoned an orb of searing hot light. The Knight jumped over it. It curved back around, but it overshot the Knight and landed on the ground, snuffing it out. While they were dodging that orb, more were being ignited through the air. The Knight dodged two more, but the fourth hit its target. The Knight, still in midair, was knocked back onto the platform. The light was hot, but their shell cooled back down soon enough.

The Knight leapt back up and slashed at the Radiance repeatedly with their nail. She sent two rings of shining spears spiraling at them. The Knight tried to move out of the way of the first set, but was skewered by one. Particles of Void shot out of the wound. The spear didn't stop once it was inside the Knight; it left a gaping hole in their body as it exited.

The Knight staggered back, Void leaking from the hole as it slowly filled itself in. Luckily, the second row of spears barely missed them. The Knight leapt back into battle, once again slashing at the Radiance's stomach.

Eventually, while dodging spike walls, light walls, and more light orbs, the Radiance teleported to the center of the platform. Small spikes lined either side of it, with only a small space in the middle not covered.

Void began to rise up from the golden-yellow clouds below, wisps of the black substance licking the side of the platform.

The Knight, temporarily distracted by the Void, didn't notice the rain of spears falling upon them. One spear grazed their back, leaving a noticeable divot in their shell. The Knight's attention immediately shifted back to the Radiance. They dodged more spears until they found an opening to attack her some more.

This cycle repeated until the Radiance finally couldn't take any more. The spears vanished as she fell onto the platform. Tentacles of Void rose from around it, trapping her. They began to tighten, and she felt them cut into her skin.

The Godseeker looked on in incredulity. Could the great God of Light truly be beaten by this meagre one? Perhaps she truly misjudged it…

The Radiance screamed again, and transformed into pure Essence. She floated through her binds and shot further into the sky. The Knight used this opportunity to focus their Soul and heal their shell.

A small golden platform appeared in the sky, then another above it. The Knight finished focusing and jumped up them. Many more small platforms of various sizes were scattered through the sky. The platforms began to shake, and the Radiance reformed in the center.

The Godseeker craned her neck to watch the continuing battle, even as the Void rose up to the foot of her throne. She could not miss this battle between gods.

The Radiance continued her attack on the Knight, and they continued their attack on her. Spears flew, spells were shot off, and orbs of light floated around the arena, homing in on them.

The Knight was hit again, this time with a wall of light. It burned the front of their shell, causing them to fall off of the platforms into the Void. It lifted them back onto the lowermost platform, but not without hurting them even more.

The Knight's shell was cracked, charred, and barely holding itself together. Void was leaking out of it, and they were having trouble standing upright. If only they could get a chance to focus…

But she was too quick. The Knight could barely keep up with her attacks, let alone get a chance to heal their shell. And they understood that.

So, they emptied all of their Soul into Abyss Shrieks. Each and every one hit, repeatedly battering the Radiance with Void-laced Soul.

The Radiance was already exhausted by the constant barrage of attacks she was putting out, but the attacks from the small Vessel were what made her realize she couldn't take much more. She transformed back into Essence and shot even higher up.

The Knight used this opportunity to focus what little Soul they had left. It didn't do much, but it was enough that they could finally stand up straight again. That's when they noticed a thin beam of light shining down on them from above. They moved out of the way, just in time for the beam to widen into a searing hot laser. Then, they saw that once again platforms began to appear, ascending towards the Radiance.

The Knight climbed the platforms, dodging the Radiance's lasers. With them, the Void beneath rose steadily.

The Void rose in one giant pillar, leaving the Godseeker to watch without being smothered. She found herself actually rooting for the meagre one to win.

The Knight finally got to the top, where she waited. Instantly, she began to teleport wildly, sending wave upon wave of light orbs to chase after them. The Knight jumped and dashed out of the way, slashing at the Radiance whenever they could. They got enough Soul, dashed directly under her, and Abyss Shrieked one more time.

The Radiance froze up, shaking. The Knight's shell finally shattered, and the Void inside them joined the rest. Tentacles of Void once more lashed out, restraining the Radiance. The rest of the Void rose to fully surround her.

Four sets of sharp, white eyes opened in the darkness. The Radiance tried to summon any bit of light that she could, but she was too tired. Her paralyzing fear didn't help either.

She saw that the eyes were connected to a face, which was connected to a body. The Void being raised an arm, and she saw sharp claws glint in the weak glow she still emitted.

The Shade Lord grabbed the Radiance's face and squeezed, revealing the light within her. They raised another hand and slashed their claws down across the Radiance's face. Again. And again. And again.

Finally, she couldn't take any more. The light within her was destroyed. She screamed, a mix of anger, hatred, fear, and pain. Essence shot out of her, faster and faster, until her body exploded. The scream died off.

The Void was victorious.

Far below, the Godseeker watched in awe. The meagre one was the one for which she had searched all along? The God of Gods, the God of Void.

Void began to flood Godhome, pillars of it leaking down everywhere. The Shade Lord turned their attention to the Godseeker, still sitting on her throne. Tentacles lashed out at her, binding her like the Radiance.

The Godseeker stared at the God of Gods with reverence. She could not move, but she wouldn't even if she could. She welcomed this pain.

In the Royal Waterways, the actual Godseeker's body was trembling. Void began to leak from her eyes. More tentacles of Void erupted from her body. Just before the Void could fully consume her, however, there was a flash of light.

The Godseeker and the Void both disappeared. Only a single white flower remained, lying on the ground.

In the Black Egg Temple, Hornet saw the orange vines of Infection wither and decay. Had the little ghost done it? Without Hornet's knowledge, could the source of the Infection have been destroyed?

Hornet heard the rattling of chains coming from inside the Egg. Knowing what lay inside, she braced herself for battle.

The Hollow Knight, tattered and damaged but still a formidable foe, lumbered out of their prison. They readied their nail for a fight.


End file.
